Drifting fleet
by Hassarn
Summary: After an anomaly shows up in middle of Turian space, followed by a massive dead fleet from an unknown race, the future of Mass Effect universe will be re-written. Up for adoption. Message me for details
1. Chapter 1

**THS Indomitable, Arrae System, Minos Wasteland:**

Dim lights of CIC did little to relieve the tension felt by Admiral Naedio Abutilus aboard THS Indomitable as he looked intently at several screens showing the research vessel approaching the anomaly. Indomitable was one of 37 Turian Dreadnoughts, the flagship of Turian 3rd fleet, now serving as guard to several research vessels, alongside its fleet.

The Anomaly was, as far as scientists speculated some sort of repulsion field in the gravity well of the systems sun, with roughly 3000 kilometers radius, it looked as if blue high preasure water was falling onto glass and spreading outwards, to the edges. It was first noticed 4 days ago by the local fleet, patrolling this usually worthless system. Appropriately names Minos Wasteland, the Turians gained the area during the Krogan rebellion. The planets were either too hot or too cold, and the cost of extracting resources was too high compared to potential profits. Now, eyes of the entire council were focused here, eagerly expecting any information.

"THS Indomitable, this is Innovation, distance to the anomaly is 11 kilometers and closing, seeking permission to launch probes" reported pilot of Innovation, a Salarian by the sound of it, nervousness clear in his voice

"Innovation, this is Indomitable, permission granted, please proceed" Answered Dr. Sanae, an Asari physicist currently aboard the Dreadnought to serve as a coordinator between the research team and their escort, her voice full of confidence, which seemed to have a reassuring effect on the Salarian

"Probes launched, engines disengaged, awaiting analysis results, Innovation out"

"Good work Innovation, keep us posted, Indomitable out"

She rose from the haptic interface and moved to join Naedio, obviously looking for someone to pass her time while awaiting results.

 **A few minutes later:**

When the probes reached the anomaly it was as if a huge weight was lifted off of everyone's back, and Admiral Naedio could see a few scientists with their mood lightened, especially Dr. Sanae who now beamed at him

"Spectroscopy results negative, no unusual concentrations of chemical compounds, Gravimetric analysis shows lowered gravity is present in the area, but we detect no traces of element zero, how...?"

"Contact, contact, contact, multiple contacts detected approaching this system at FTL speeds" the VI aboard the Indomitable cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

Wasting no time, Admiral Naedio did what he did bests and sprung into action;

"Sound General quarters, 3rd fleet form up on me and head towards the Mass Relay, research vessels proceed to gather into a defensive position behind the frontline"

A thousand thoughts crossed his mind as alarms started sounding and crew rushed to their pre-determined positions and none of them were good. From pirates and Batarians, all the way to the Geth, this couldn't be good. There had to be a mole somewhere and...

His train of thoughts was interrupted by the pilot;

"Sir, the Mass Relay is inactive, no ships are using it for transit"

"Impossible, that would mean... Spirits, all Ships change course, battle formation towards the anomaly. Tell those damn Salarians to get out of there! VI, report on number of contacts detected"

"Analyzing. Sensors are currently detecting approximately 6000 contacts transiting into the system"

All color drained from Dr. Sanae's face as she heard the news. Had he been an Asari, the same might have happened to him, but only outward sign of distress was a barely detectable twitch of his mandibles as he received news.

What followed could only be described as a lightning storm as the anomaly started disgorging ships, every ship followed by a flash of light as it exited.

"By the Goddess!" Everyone could just watch in stunned silence as a 2 kilometer long Dreadnought slammed into the puny research vessel as it exited the FTL, instantly vaporizing the puny vessel, only evidence of contact being a short light blue flash as shields absorbed the impact. The same Dreadnought was followed by dozens of similar sized vessels, and hundreds upon hundreds of cruisers, frigates and corvettes.

The ships exited FTL in incredible order, creating a huge screen of ships lining up against the now inconsequential Turian fleet. A Turian within him respected that

Not moving his eyes from the screen Admiral Naedio proceeded to give orders, "Pilot, contact Palaven command, inform them of our situation and request immediate mobilization. We have what looks like an invasion fleet inside Turian space. Forward the same message to the council at once"

For minutes ships kept disgorging from the void and as if that wasn't enough a huge space station exited last, releasing an enormous shockwave that that almost completely drained the barriers on his vessels. The civilian research ships lacking the barriers weren't so lucky as the ships and crew within were tossed like driftwood on an angry sea. The previous mandible twitch turned into a proverbial jaw drop at the sight of such monstrosity.

A mobile space station? Or is it a ship? No, it can't be, impossible, he thought to himself

With the space station in place the anomaly disappeared.

"STATUS REPORT NOW! I want all information on the alien fleet this very instant! MOVE IT!

"Analyzing" announced the VI

The alien fleet was arrayed in a wedge of ships closely packed together, and the galaxy map was now replaced with a display showing information as it was processed by the shipboard computers and sensors

"I have detected 21 unique ship models counting the space station. I also detect numerous civilian vessels among Alien fleet. The total number of capital ships is 115; 116 with space station. The smallest ship in their fleet measures 85 meters with 1200 models

In front of him a ship model was displayed, a small vessel, larger than corvette but smaller than a frigate, shaped like a moth or a butterfly, with small central body and widely spread "wings"

"The most common vessel numbering at 2000 models is this"

The display showed another vessel, this time a frigate by the looks of it, measuring 350 meters, shaped like a two pronged spear with some sort of disk at the front and sides.

"VI, give me a full tactical analysis"

"Processing... Means of propulsion, unknown. Armament... unknown. Sensors are not detecting any element zero signatures within or around the ships. I detect no communication signals between the ships. Capabilities... unknown."

"Well that was useless" he spoke to no one in particular

"Try to initiate contact with them admiral" Dr Sanae spoke up, finally regaining her composure. "We should try to avoid conflict with unknown enemy at all cost. We don't know why they're here, maybe they are lost, or this could all be a misunderstanding. We have to try!"

"You're right, even if we wanted a fight, it is a fight we can't win. Not yet at least, it will take time for us to gather our forces. VI, try to initiate contact, send them a first contact protocol."

"Sending, please stand by. Data transfer error, no QEC receiver detected."

Does it ever end... "Send the package on all available frequencies"

"Data transfer error no receiver detected"

How can they have such spaceships without means of communication... "Contact commander Korvus, commander Vinius, and commander Haran. I also the STG to send their commander. I want them all in the war room within the hour. Dr. Sanae, I believe you will have to represent the Asari interests in this situation.

One hour later:

"Any changes?"

"No Admiral, their ships haven't opened any communication channels, nor have they moved at all. Its like they are in some sort of stasis field"

"Thank you Falvus, notify me as soon as there is any change in the situation. I will be in the war room."

Final salutes exchanged, he headed into the spacious war room, at the centre of which was an enormous wooden round table, with holographic display at the centre, and haptic interface in front of the seats. With 6 people in it now, it felt eerily empty.

"Admiral" *everyone gave him a salute, before taking their seats.*

"You know why we're all here, we need to come up with a plan what to do with the aliens. We tried contacting them but nothing is getting trough. They either don't use our technology, or lack it completely. On the upside they haven't made any moves towards us or towards leaving the system. Dr. Sanae here suggested a peaceful solution and I tend to agree with her view, at least until our reinforcements arrive. I would like to hear your thoughts and suggestions, starting with captain Zelaan"

A Salarian rose from his seat, average in every way imaginable, a man who would never stand out in a crowd, and cleared his throat before speaking

"Call it a cliche, but I believe we should send a shuttle and try to board one of the vessels. Our frigate has detected no activity on any of the enemy ships. It just might be that they are empty, drifting in space, perhaps ran by a VI?"

Dr. Sanae stood up; "If that is the case then this could be the greatest discovery since spaceflight for any of our species. Just think of what we can discover! I advise caution, but if we get no response we have to try. If they really are drifting who knows how long they will stay here. Even a single vessel could offer incredible insight"

She sat down as she finished speaking, only for elderly commander Korvus to rise up:

"I agree with both of them. We are at an impasse. We can't leave the system and lose the sight of them. We can't let them leave the system. And it is obvious they are not responding. Something is obviously wrong"

"Commander, you can't be serious!" the young commander Haran spoke out of his turn. If commander Korvus's eyes were anything to go by that act gained him no friend. "Have you all lost your sense of caution? You talk of discoveries in amazement, whereas that is exactly what worries me. This fleet is massive. If the crew is dead, whatever killed them could still be aboard. What if its a virus, or some plague? What if their ships are taken over by mad AI's who killed the crew? Or what if they are alive and just consider us unworthy of contact. Hell, they might just..."

"That's enough!" this time it was Korvus who interrupted Haran; "What's the next thing you will say, that the ship is flown by Rachni perhaps? They came to take their revenge? Captain Zelaan, how fast can you get your team ready for boarding?"

"Three hours is all we need"

This time it was Vinius's time to speak;

"This is a joint project, we should sent a join team onto the vessels. STG should not be the only ones to claim the glory" spoke the tongue, but deep down he knew it was actually mistrust that Salarians will share everything they uncover. Important things. Small things. Things that fit inside a pocket.

"The glory? Ah yes, Turians and their glory. So be it, we will start preparing the shuttles. Send us your team, four men will be enough. We will send the same number"

"Wait, you can't just send a Turian and Salarian team in and call it a joint mission. We are..."

"You are too few and lack combat training Dr. If we encounter any resistance you will be a burden that we..."

"And if you don't? What if you encounter aliens but are unable to communicate with them, and they find you rummaging trough their ship?"

"In that situation how exactly would you help?"

"Well... I could meld with them and gain an understanding of their language. And even if that fails I am still a formidable biotic in my own right."

"Fine, fine have it your way. Are we done here?"

Rising from his seat Admiral proceeded to grab 2 vials of alcohol from underneath the table and pour it into cups, offering them to all present, careful to pay attention to amino acid chirality;

"To this endeavor then. May Janara bless us with good fortune and spirit of the third fleet grant us strength if we need it. Hoke!"

"Hoke!"

THe Turians twitched their mandibles, as tradition demands, sending small droplets of alcohol across the room as offering to the spirits and departed the room. The STG captain left with them, leaving Dr. Sanae to mentally prepare for grand adventure...

Next up, the boarding team departs and enters the dead alien vessel. What secrets can they uncover and what knowledge will they gain? Tune in in the next chapter.

 **Spoiler alert: Fleet composition bellow, skip if you care for spoilers**

Radiance Battleship = 30

Revelation Battlecruiser = 10

Progenitor Mothership = 20

Halcyon Carrier = 40

Rapture Battlecruiser = 5

Discord Battleship = 10

Coronata Titan = 1

Total capital = 115

Titan = 1

Acolyte Corvette = 1200

Seeker Vessel = 84

Disciple Vessel = 2000

Illuminator Vessel = 1000

Purge Vessel = 150

Defense Vessel = 300

Missionary Vessel = 250

Aeria Drone Host = 80

Iconus Guardian = 150

Domina Subjugator = 30

Destra Crusader = 500

Solanus Adjudicator = 120

Talion Savior = 15

Herald Envoy = 5


	2. Chapter 2

**STG Shuttle, en route to Alien space station:**

The shuttle was small, cramped and uncomfortable, clearly designed and best suited for Salarians, rather than any of the other races. The situation hadn't improved once they reached the Alien fleet; the ships were tightly packed and the shuttle jolted and shook every time they passed trough the barriers of Alien ships. The mobile space station was placed at the very back of the fleet, looming like an enormous mountain over all the lesser ships.

The view was nice, she had to admit that much, these ships were almost of an Asari design yet different, sleek lines and beautiful contours, every one of them proportional and beautiful in its own right. As they neared the station even it proved to be a beauty, something she didn't expect;

"Research log 112; we are nearing the Alien station. The disk we have noticed above the structure seems to be composed of some light blue material gently flowing trough it. How it is kept in place, is currently unknown, but I am hoping we will find out once we enter the structure. It could be some kind of shield generator. Or I could be a fool and it will end up being a holographic billboard selling their equivalent of newest brand of beer. VI delete the last sentence. I have also noticed symbols carved into the station that remind me of ancient Asari ones, especially Rena period*. Particularly prominent is what seems to be Eye of Junya*. Its shaped like a body..."

"Or a coffin" commander Haran interrupted her.

He was very negative about the whole ordeal she thought. He might be the best soldiers in the third fleet but his words only brought harm and kept everyone on edge.

Glaring at him she continued; "As I said, in form of a body. The rough dimensions of it are 8 kilometers, 10 kilometers for the whole structure with the blue disk. Could this be a royal carriage or a temple perhaps? We are now moving down, trying to find an entrance. Dr Sanae out"

Seeing her finish, Captain Zelaan nodded his head and stood up so all could see him as he brought up his omnitool; "Alright, our sensors have picked up an entry point right... here" a red dot proceeded to blink on the backside of the station, where neck would meet the skull, if it were a living being.

"From there we can proceed forward to this area" the omnitool zoomed in in what could only be called "the face" of the structure, sparking her imagination once again.

"We believe it is a bridge. If anyone is still alive we should find someone there. If not we should look for a control console to disable the station or perhaps the entire fleet, so it doesn't continue drifting along whatever course they were following. If we do establish contact I expect you, Dr. Sanae to be at the front. If not, please stay behind us, and allow us to deal with any possible threats. Any questions?"

No one spoke up so he took it as a signal to continue;

"We will stay together, the ship is too large and unfamiliar to go exploring on your own. If Destiny Ascension is anything to go by it could take weeks or months to fully explore this entire station. We go in, reach the bridge, disable it and we go out. Simple."

As he finished talking the shuttle had reached its destination. When the chamber started with depressurisation Captain Zelaan was the first to jump from the shuttle and onto the structure, his mag-boots clamping down hard onto the metal body beneath him.

The door in was surprisingly easy to hack with their omni-tools and they were greeted with a new sight;

Before them stood a massive ellipsoid chamber, the omnitool scans showed it to be 350 meters tall and 200 wide at their widest points, and a kilometer long. At the end of the chamber was some sort of machine generating blindingly strong white and blue light.

One thought seems to have been in everyone's mind and Sanae voiced it first; "Could we have been mistaken and entered the engine room?"

"Unlikely" responded Captain Zelaan, "Who would design a ship or a station like that? It makes no sense."

"These are aliens we are dealing with Captain, who knows how their minds work?" said Dr Sanae

"True I guess. It makes no difference, we came to disable this structure and that is what we will do. Whether on a bridge or in the engine room, doesn't matter. Onward!"

The progress was painstakingly slow, as the squad decided to walk along the left wall for safety, and checking every nook and cranny before moving forward. Not that she complained, it gave her plenty of time to study the inside of the structure in greater detail. The walls were shiny and metallic, giving off an impression of purity and strength. When she traced her hand across them she felt indentations in the wall, like some sort of markings or perhaps even script. She couldn't see it with her eyes so she took out her omnitool in an attempt to scan the wall but it detected nothing. As she turned it off she noticed her hand was covered in some oily substance that reflected light incredibly strongly, making her hand glow from the light coming from the engines. She took out a vial and was collecting some samples for later testing when commander Haran called out to her to come join them. They have discovered another chamber, branching off from the main one leading into a surprisingly small corridor considering the dimensions of the main chamber, about 10 meters wide but 100 meters long. In the darkness of it they could see the walls, the pale blue light, barely visible pulsed across them, as if propelled forward by a giant heart towards what seemed to be a door.

"Captain, tell your men to turn off their helmets. The structure is providing its own light for the ship that seems to be dimmed by the lights from our helmets"

"You heard her, turn it off" he said tersely, not paying much attention to her but focusing forward.

It was as if they entered a whole another world, the dark hallways was illuminated in blue glow and the walls were covered in 6 relief's underneath which stood inscriptions that kept changing, moving, telling a story perhaps?

The first relief on the left showcased a huge battle between large crude ships of similar design, space debris cluttering a third of the first panel. As the light pulsed she saw a burning ship flying towards a planet. When the pulse reached the planet it cracked into 6 pieces, burning and then going dark.

Beneath the relief an inscription was shown, similar to Quarian script if she remembered correctly. The letters changed, flowed, she was certain it was telling a story of whatever race built this ship yet she couldn't understand a word of it. She felt like a maiden once again, thirsting for knowledge and understanding, but unable to get it.

The second relief showed tiny fleets leaving numerous planets, as large battle fleets clashed above them. Were they running away from the conflict or heading towards it?

The similar letters, differently arranged flowed, telling another part of the story she couldn't understand.

The last relief panel on the left showed the same small previously seen vessels converging on a lone planet, some of them touching down on the ground as aliens spilled over the surface of the world

She ran back to the door, and looked at the right wall;

The first panel on the right showed the same planet from before, covered in beautiful spired cities, being surrounded by the crude ships from the first panel on the left. The small sleek vessels that once came down on the planet in the third panel on the left were now leaving it. Was it an evacuation? Did they leave by choice?

The next relief showed an alien figure standing in a pillar of light. The pillar itself stood inside a large bubble composed of thousands of smaller alien figures sending rain down onto the pillar and the large figure? A prayer perhaps? As the light pulsed across the small alien figures vanished, and formed into a solid sphere.

The final panel showed a lone figure, similar to the one in the second panel, standing in a fire, its arms spread wide towards the sky. The fire itself was on top of a pile of crushed alien bodies, each pulse of the light fanned the flames until nothing could be seen on the panel but bright light.

She wanted to go into the next room, she needed to know more, she just...

"MOVE IT!"

Her trance like state was broken by a Turian marine, who noticed her lagging behind the others.

"We have no time to explore now. We need to disable their propulsion. After that you can gawk at walls as much as you'd like"

"Yes, I am sorry, my curiosity got the better of me" she said as she ran from the hallway back into the main chamber.

 **Two hours later, Alien structure:**

As they approached their goal and the glowing sphere they could see thousands of thick pipes and cables descending from all the walls around the sphere, taping into it and creating a wall different from others in the station, both outside and inside. The pipes and cables had small slots on them from glass, shaped like a script that allowed them to look into the pipes without cutting them open. They could see some sort of blue fuel flowing trough them, some of them going in towards the sphere in the center of the room, others flowing out of it.

They had to keep their heads low or away from the sphere, the light emanating from it was too strong at this distance and hurt the eyes even when they were closed.

"We should be careful" commander Haran said as he pushed the barrel of his rifle against the rubbery pipe, "this is obviously fuel and the last thing we need is a catastrophic explosion on a ship this size. Especially with us onboard it."

"I agree" the Salarian captain nodded. "Engineer Kalvay, give me an analysis."

"Yes sir. We have scanned the pipes and cables leading into the sphere. They don't seem to be covered in the substance that Dr. Sanae noticed earlier. There is some fuel within them as commander Haran said, but we don't know what kind, whether it is toxic, flammable or noxious. What we do know is that cutting off the supply of it to the central sphere should bring down the power in the entire ship. We don't know what exactly will happen once we do that. If it is anything like the mass effect core we are using, the structure could lose gravity and fall into the star bellow. If that is the case, we would only have 19 days before it falls into the sun and gets destroyed. We would have to act quickly. I suggest we notify the fleet of that possibility."

"Agreed. Nineteen days is a known variable, as opposed to what we have now. Uncertainty is not conductive to success."

"Ahm.. sir, we also don't know what kind of backup systems they might have, or if security measures will be activated. We suggest preparing a defensive position just in case as we work on disabling the power"

"You heard the man, commander Haran said to his Turian marines "STG should focus on cutting the power to the ship. We will focus on providing you cover and preparing for unexpected visitors."

"And what should I do?"

"Just... just stay behind us and try not to get into too much trouble"

 **Hour and a half later, Alien structure:**

"Ready to cut power in three, two one..."

The sound of energy powering down was universal it would seem. The light disappeared in an instant and darkness swallowed the entire chamber.

Captain Zelaan was the first to turn on his helmet light; "Everyone alright? Kalvay? Luttvo?"

"Yeah we're fine", the engineers answered, followed by everyone else in the small team. So far so good.

Time to report with the fleet and let them know we cut power; "Breach team to THS Indomitable do you copy?"

"Indomitable here, we hear you loud and clear" answered the voice of Admiral Naedio.

"We've cut power to the star base, what do you see from the outside?"

"Not a lot has changed from here. The sphere at the top of the star base has shut down, its no longer glowing, there's just a few thing metal beams there. Everything else seems unchanged. Have you encountered any trouble?

"Negative, we've encountered no trouble of any kind"

"What about Aliens? Any bodies around?

"Negative on that too sir, apart from the wall panels there's no evidence anyone was ever living here"

"Proceed with the mission captain, Indomitable out"

Shutting down his omni tool com unit he turned towards the dark area where the sphere once stood; "I say we investigate their engines and move to exflitrate."

The entire team was relatively relaxed as they were approaching the now dead engine.

Dr. Sanae was engaged in a lively chat with the Salarian engineers, whom both seem to be enjoying her company;

"... the capabilities could be remarkable. This huge space station powered by such a compact engine, imagine the possibilities.

"We are. STG doesn't write in names of their agents in history, but if this doesn't get us a mention in a history book or..."

"SPIRITS!" was all anyone heard.

The barrier around the engine opened itself, like a flower;

The faint blue glow covered them all and before them stood a nude alien, female by the looks of it, plugged into the machine. Her head was covered by a thick metal disk and various tubes ran into her back and spine. The faint light from the tubes gave her an otherworldly look, and Dr. Sanae was immediately reminded of the figure standing within the pillar of light on the previous panels.

Coming closer all were left speechless at what they saw. The alien looked like a mixture between an Asari and a Quarian. It had the unbent legs and five fingers of the Asari but had eyebrows and lashes, as well as some hair on the privates like a Quarian. The scalp was impossible to see so finding out if she had crests of hair was impossible for now. The skin was ghost grey with a dark shade of blue around the eyes and various shades of blue on the lips. To an Asari she was... Perfect.

Rena period = Asari equivalent of ancient Egypt

Eye of Junya = ancient Asari goddess of protection and royalty

My notes:

For those wanting to see what the new character looks like you can find a picture here

.

For those having trouble imagining the glowing sphere, think David in Project Overlord, without the eye thingies, or look at the picture here

. /revision/latest?cb=20080707161213

combo of which I used for inspiration.

Next chapter we will see how the first contact goes. Please R&R and leave your suggestions.

Cheers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alien space station, central chamber:**

She stood there, stunned, unable to move her eyes of this new alien, while the others rushed around, readying their guns and Omni-tools.

"Is she alive?

An engineer quickly closed in and started scanning her with his Omni-tool; "Yes sir! I am detecting faint life signs Captain. It is possible that the machine is keeping her alive. Removing her could be problematic"

"Spread out in a search pattern, try to find the rest of the crew. Commander, take a team on the other side of the cable wall and see if you can reach the front side of the structure from this chamber." Turning around he faced the Asari with them and continued; "Dr.., I will need you stand back. Head to the exit with engineer Kalvay and.."

"Let me help" Dr. Sanae interjected; "This is why I came here with you, to establish a contact, a connection and understanding. We can't just leave her there!"

The Salarian slightly bobbed his head a few times, taking it all in;

"Fine, do what you will. Engineer Luttvo, open com channel to the fleet"

 **A few moments later aboard the THS Indomitable;**

"THS Indomitable this is Breach team do you copy?"

"We hear you loud and clear."

"We have found an alien sir, sending data now"

Before Admiral and the gathered crew an image of an Asari like being formed, hooked up to all kinds of machines in a disturbing manner. The data proceeded to pass by, from amino acid chirality to reproductive information. The body scans showed something that unnerved him; within the alien body there were dozens of streams of metals and crystals leading up or away from the brain. There were several small metal plates in the cranium as well, perhaps something akin to biotic amps or control chips? The later seemed more likely, who would want to be in such a position...

"I will assume Dr. Sanae has already volunteered for mind melding?"

"Yes, she is already starting the procedure."

"Good lu.." The entire alien fleet activated in the same instant. Blue lights could be seen trough windows on every vessel. The eyes of the monster space station turned red, as an explosion from within the "face" threw a huge chunk of metal and debris outward, leaving a grotesque scar on the left "cheek" of the station.

"Spirits! Status report! Breach team report now! Anyone on this frequency!?"

Suddenly the entire ship was put in a stasis field of some sort, as computers and power started shutting down leaving them in complete dark. Only light came from red alien letters flowing across every screen within the Dreadnought in five separate words.

 **Within the unity, Dr.. Sanae, 7 seconds earlier:**

The instant she melded with the alien she knew something was wrong when a deep monotone chant of a million voices echoed in the back of her mind, drilling a sense of inevitability and foreboding in her. She opened her eyes and to her shock saw not a memory of one person, or a mind of one, but a whole world of minds. A world surrounded by draining darkness held at bay by millions of eyes peering at her very soul in malevolence. Her mind raced, what did she do to deserve such hate and hostility. She could see them, witness them, and they saw her, but both seemed unable to interact with each other. Her mind raced, and as various thoughts came into it they manifested themselves onto this strange world. Once again she saw her mother embracing her father from behind as he held a tiny Asari baby in in his arms. She never met him, being a Salarian he died long before she could remember him, yet there he stood clear as day holding her. She remembered her first kiss, her first meld, and witnessed and relived them all. She realized the true wonder of this world, and its power. If only Asari had something like this, if only she could stay here forever...

No, she needed to focus. She came here with a mission. She needed to find out more about the aliens if incidents were to be avoided. She thought about the space station and saw it before her. Coronata Titan engraved itself in her mind. The name of the... Ship? Dear Goddess it was not a station it was a ship...

Why was it here her mind asked, and images of galaxy she never saw flew before her. The image closed in until she saw a huge fleet, millions of ships of all kinds of different designs, some reminded her of the crude ships she saw on relief's, some were bug like and looked organic, and others matched the ships of the fleet that appeared, all of them arrayed in a monstrous battle line, awaiting an enemy;

A sharp pain pierced her, and the memory was gone, someone was fighting her. She wanted to tell them not to fear her, not to resist but it was all in vain. She couldn't go back into the memory, so she decided to find answers to other questions.

She closed her eyes and when she opened them she was in the relief corridor of Coronata. The relief's were no longer still images, changing stiffly as pulses came over them, now they were living memories, giving her understanding. The first relief told the story of this people, Advent, as they called themselves, and their creation of a pacifist society, far removed from the horrors of the trade wars that extinguished the lives of trillions. They settled on a large desert planet, out of everyone's way, joined together in Unity, and pacifism. Until another faction, the TEC came, and forced them off their planet for no reason than being different. They refused to commit violence, and abuses mounted, everything from a curse word to torture was felt by every Advent sharing the unity, and carving itself with a dull blade into living memory of the unity. Witnessing the events for herself traumatized her, she was sure she would never be the same person again. But to carry such a memory for a thousand years, i would twist even the gentlest of beings into a monster.

Once again she was kicked out of the memory and the resistance increased.

Feeling that the time is running out she decided to immerse herself further, in an effort to find the Advent from the ship with whom she melded.

The scenery changed again, into one of darkness with only bright spot being the one where she stood, and another one 2 miles away. So far this place filled in the answers her mind asked so she ran toward the light. What seemed like hours passed by until she reached the beauty she saw on Coronata; crying on the floor eyes read from tears streaming down heir face. She pulled on her hair in distress, tearing out whole locks of hair with every tug. Sanae knelt by her and placed her hand on her right shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. The Alien, Senar was her name, escaped her grasp and started dragging herself away from her. The light disappeared, replaced by bright white eyes now creeping closer, and with them came the whispers;

"Stop her..."

"She has to be stopped.."

"She is a threat.."

"Stop her. Stop her, stop her..."

"Monster..."

"Heathen filth..."

"How can you do this to her..?"

"Rapist beast..."

The last whisper shook her to her core... Rapist? Why did they say that to her? What was going on? She wanted to shout out to them, explain herself, but no voice could come out, nor could she open her mind to them, they didn't understand. She had to leave before causing further damage. She closed her eyes and wished for the meld to end. When she opened them a pulse of bright light came rushing towards her...

 **6.9 Seconds before the incident, bridge of Coronata Titan:**

As soon as Dr. Sanae placed her hands on the Alien she started screaming in obvious distress and pain. Her black eyes turned white and her body started smoking and shaking violently. Only her hands remained unmoved, glued to the alien's head. A Turian Marine rushed to separate them but was violently thrown 200 meters across the chamber, a sickening crunch joining the howls and screams of the Asari doctor as he hit the wall and colored it dark blue with his blood.

Not knowing what else to do, Captain Zelaan gave the order;

"Shoot her! What are you waiting for, shoot her, shoot!"

The panicking troops opened fire blindly, thousands of rounds flying towards the alien in an attempt to stop whatever is going on. Hundreds of rounds pierced Dr. Sanae, her body finally going limp and hands releasing their grip on aliens head. The smoke cleared and flashes stopped, revealing the tiny grain sized rounds levitating in the air like a bubble, none of them even touching the alien. In that instant alien opened her piercing blue eyes and screamed, sending all the levitating rounds like shrapnel across the room vaporizing all present in a haze of blue and green blood...

 **Coronata Titan, Senar, moments after waking:**

Raped! Violated! The disgust she felt couldn't be measured. A mind is sacred to every Advent, and entering another one's private mind without permission was the worst possible crime, with huge cultural stigma guaranteeing certain and painful death to all involved. To enter the mind of a coalescence went even beyond that, something so horrible and unimaginable that it was unheard of even in the most horrible nightmares of the entire unity. But she will have her revenge. She will regain her honor and bring pain and doom to those who caused her to suffer.

She looked towards blue and green mist that floated in the air where the aliens once stood and a slight smirk found place on her face. It was time to wake the others...

She stood into the communion apparatus closed her eyes and opened her mind to the unity. She saw them, her brothers and sisters, but there were so few of them. 3 211 708 souls looked towards her, out of trillions that once were.

"What happened?"

The image of the final battle came before her, and memories flooded her; the fleets of the galaxy gathered to fight the ancient enemy, the horror that Vasari unleashed creeping forward, an all-consuming wave of darkness. The stars and planets dimmed and disappeared as they were consumed. Weapons were firing but making no dent in them when the scryers warned her that Vasari are jumping out of the battle. The tales of peace and alliance falling apart and unraveling to reveal the true plan of the sick nomads, to sacrifice them all in an effort to stall the enemy and buy them time to evacuate. Anger filled the Unity, as they turned around and opened fire on Vasari fleets, determined to bring them down with them. The TEC seemed to have the same idea. Who would have thought that they, THEY would meet the end doing something together. By the time last Vasari vanished in a flash of Phase space, or in an explosion it was already too late. The darkness engulfed them all...

Her eyes opened once again, she now remember what happened before they got here, but not how they got here. All she knew is that her people are gone, only the tiniest fraction remaining. Were they dead, or were they lost will be a mystery to be solved by those that remained. For now, there was a fleet to deal with.

She channeled the rage she and the whole of unity felt over her violation and focused it against the enemy...

 **Admiral Dexana, en route to Minos Wasteland:**

A day ago an urgent message was sent to the entire Turian hierarchy to prepare for mobilisation, and Admiral Dexana, veteran of the Terminus campaigns was at the front of relief fleet, rushing into the Minos Wasteland to assist Admiral Abutilus against the Alien fleet he has encountered.

"Exiting the relay in 3, 2, 1" announced the pilot over the coms.

The light distortion normalized and it was instantly clear something was wrong.

The Turian fleet was in disarray, no battle lines were drawn, and no plan seemed to be in place. Ships drifted slowly one towards each other.

"Pilot, open com channel to Indomitable" bellowed the Admiral, her flanged voice echoing over the vast CIC of her carrier;

"THS Indomitable this is THS Resolute, status report"

*silence follows for 20 seconds*

"THS Indomitable, this is THS Resolute, do you read us?"

"Admiral, we detect huge energy spikes in the alien fleet, what are your orders?"

"Bring us in line with them and fire, at once! Launch strike craft from all available ships!"

Kinetic dampeners did their most but still the ship shook and vibrated as shells left the spinal cannons and rushed towards the enemy fleet. She felt pride as over 300 shells screamed across the space towards the largest ship in hostile fleet. Hundreds of shells slammed against the exposed hull of the enemy monster Dreadnought, the foe clearly didn't have the time to raise their kinetic barriers, and she couldn't help but feel pride as she imagined the shells tearing trough the ship and sending the alien bastards into open space and slow death.

As she watched more shells impact against the hull the com channels opened once again, it was the Indomitable!

"Admiral Dexana, whatever you did released their grip on us. They immobilized us in some kind of stasis field. We need to evacuate now. Do not engage the enemy further, move to the mass relay and evacuate. The data we extracted shows, shows, shows..."

The voice of stuttering Admiral was gone, replaced with a voice of an angry Asari child, screaming at them;

"Your suffering begins now!"

She looked at the display and saw the enemy supership glow. Some kind of energy or fluid spread across the hull and went up towards some kind of circle on top of it. It didn't look good...

"All fleets evacuate this system, all fleets evacuate, now! Tranos, get us out of here!"

It was too late however. The energy buildup stopped, and a stream of yellow-white light erupted from the ring on top of enemy ship, over 200 meters thick and slammed into Admiral Abutilus's fleet. The fleet simply ceased to be. There was no words to describe the horror of seeing tens of thousands of lives extinguished in an instant. Two seconds later the huge energy lance stopped and the enemy fleet started turning towards her and her relief fleet.

"Admiral we are detecting additional contacts! They are unleashing strike craft! Thousands of them! 5000 contacts and counting. Spirits, they are coming straight for us!

"All ships disperse and head to the Mass Relay. Evacuate the system at once. Don't stop for anything. Fighters, provide cover for our retread. Your sacrifice will be remember in the annals of 11th fleet."

Sorry for the delay between this and the previous story, I had some real life issues I needed to deal with. Anyway, I hope you like it. A first contact initiated trough unknowing rape seems like an interesting and unexplored viewpoint for start of relations between species. Please leave your thoughts and comments in the reviews, and stay tuned for more.


	4. Chapter 4

**Admiral Dexana, 11th fleet, Minos Wasteland, Arrae system:**

Her heart raced as she watched enemy contacts close in on her CIC. Fighters, like two flocks of angry wasps rushed one towards another. Hope flooded her as she saw her fighters opening fire on the enemy first from over 50 kilometers with their mass accelerators while the enemy guns kept silent. On the CIC contacts started dropping quickly, as 150 gram ferrous slugs tore into unshielded enemy fighters. She knew it was a lost fight, but it was good seeing that not everything is hopeless. The CIC crew did their best to record all the data they could, from both the dogfights and the wrecked fleet.

At 15 kilometers the enemy fighters fired for the first time. Thin lances of blue energy pierced the vacuum of space and connected with her rear guard, cutting the Turian fighters clean wherever they connected. It was a bloodbath, for the lack of a better word. Both sides seemed to be lacking the means to defend against the other side's weapons and the losses were astounding. In a war of attrition the side with the greatest numbers wins, and aliens had a distinct advantage in that department here. Despite equivalent losses in the initial strike, 3 minutes later all Turian fighter craft have been disabled. Alien ceramic wall returned to their old intercept course.

"Initiating the approach run. Hitting the relay in 3, 2, 1.."

 **Senar, Coronata titan, Minos Wasteland, Arrae system:**

Gone. They just disappeared in a flash of blue and left no trace or FTL wake to signal where they went. This will require further study. For now, she needed information on the fleet status. Closing the eyes, she entered the unity;

"What happened? How did we do?"

From the mass a man stepped out, decked out in blue trimmed white robe, one of the Anima class; "The enemy is using kinetic weaponry, similar to the TEC. Theirs however seems far more advanced, and they have made the armor on our fighters completely useless. The scryers have detected the speed of some of their shots reaching one or two percent of the speed of light, so despite using tiny shells in comparison to TEC Gauss guns, they more than make up for it in power. I am sad to report, but we have won only trough weight of numbers. If these fleets were all they had, we can count this a victory. If not... Well, I would suggest we move away from this place, quickly before we lose all our anima." His words said, he retreated back into the mass.

Another of the Advent stepped forward, and pride swelled in Senar as she saw the child of 9, one of the youngest and most talented Psintegrate in the fleet and commander of Furia, one of the Discord battleships, and... Her sister. She has shown herself more than capable in the fight, taking hold over one of the enemy fleets all by herself. With a slight bow of the head, the child spoke;

"With all due respect, their ship's are pitiful and so are their minds. Their fighter weapons are formidable indeed, and while their ships use the same technology, except on a larger scale, they seem to have purposefully crippled themselves in the area of weapons design. We have analyzed their attack on Coronata, and have noticed no significant damage, despite the weight of fire that impacted it. We searched the minds of the crew in the lower areas and noticed that their shells break on impact, rather than pierce the armor, essentially turning each shot into shotgun. While such a design would work wonders against infantry and light vehicles, covering them in shrapnel, it is horribly unsuited to fighting us and piercing heavy armor. Our capital ships should have no problem with their fire, even with out shields down, but we should be careful to protect everything smaller than cruisers. Their shields are horribly specialized, effective only against the same shells they are using. They stopped our plasma attacks as well, but the heat and radiation were not stopped, melting and distorting their hulls as if nothing was there. Our lasers were not even distorted, cutting their ships into ribbons without any issues.

"Thank you sister. Elder Scryer Myal, please step forward"

"I serve the will of the unity" an elderly woman said bowing, as she approached to the fore of those gathered.

"What can you tell me about our foe of today? Are they connected to Vasari or their creation? Where did they go? Anything you know is more than welcome"

"Nothing more than you already know. They are composed of several various races. How the blue alien accessed the unity we still do not know. Her body was analyzed and we found no psytech, only some kind of control chip implanted on the brain. Their ships are crewed mainly by these scaly aliens with various spikes. They seem to be more physically adept that either of the other two, and that combined with their control over fleets, and control chips found in the blue alien has led us to believe that this race has conquered and enslaved the others, now using them to supplement their own forces."

Everyone listened in silence, for they knew what the information meant. An Alien race of subjugators and slavers, that has control over two species already meant that they could have a fight to the death on their hands against a massive galactic empire. And if they could achieve relative parity by simply changing munitions their ships used, the situation went from bad to worse. They needed to leave and establish a base as soon as possible. Over 80% of the unity shared her thoughts. The other 20% decided to coalesce into Elder Scryer Myal;

"We have been awake for a few hours, and we have already encountered 3 alien races. Unity, in its 1500 years of existence encountered only one xeno race, and even they came from another galaxy. I say we head out while we still have the advantage, press it, and try our best to establish contact with someone who will help us understand what just happened, and from there we can decide whether to fight, flee or create a new home!"

The unity was shifting once again. Now, the majority supported Elder Scryer Myal.

"Does anyone have anything else to add?" asked Senar? Silence wasn't broken and she continued; "It is the will of the unity to travel these stars in search of new life for a period of two years. If nothing is discovered, we will find a suitable location and settle down. All ships, prepare to enter the following phase lane. Unity, be our guide!"

Three days later, council chambers, Citadel:

She entered the chamber, keeping her head low and eyes directed at the floor as news reporters hounded her and took vids and photos. For the past day and a half council has been analyzing the data she has given them collected during the battle. As the witness, and highest ranking officer that survived the battle she knew she would be called up to provide answers, and probably serve as scapegoat for the disaster that has unfolded if public called for it. IF. That little word was her source of courage as she climbed the steps ignoring the scavengers gathered around the corridors.

She saw Turian councilor Arato, a grizzled veteran of a hundred battles against the slavers of Terminus and a living legend of the First Turian fleet. She felt incredibly small in comparison. The old Asari councilor, Matriarch Yullna was gone, now replaced by Tevos, a young Asari who was barely out of her maidenhood, yet still renowned for her wisdom and diplomatic approach and often served as the mediator between the opposing views of the Turians and Salarians. Speaking of which, their councilor has also been changed. The previous one has died two years ago, and Dexana still haven't had a chance find out anything about the new councilor Qurray.

"The council calls on Admiral Dexana to step forward" Tevos said with all of her Asari grace and confidence, putting on a show for all present, especially the reporters and ambassadors of lesser council races.

Taking a deep breath, Dexana stepped onto the platform and raised her gaze for the first time, steeling herself for the inevitable barrage.

Arato was the first to speak "We've read your report on Minos Admiral. Loosing an entire fleet, and sacrificing hundreds of strike-craft to cover your retreat? And no enemy ships destroyed? How did that even happen?

"We... I.. Don't know sir. When we exited the relay the Aliens were already engaging Admiral Abutius's fleet with some kind of stasis fields. We tried opening contacts but failed. I determined we had to open fire, or we would suffer the same fate. I take full responsibility for everything that has unfolded since that order, but that decision is what released the alien grip on the third fleet, and allowed them to send us the data package and research information. Without that we would be completely in the dark."

"We are not judging you Admiral, we merely wish to gain deeper understanding" Tevos said as she typed something on her console. "It says here that you have managed to score several hits on the alien super-dreadnought?"

"Yes, we managed to land several hits, but to no effect. When the shells impacted them, their ship glowed and then opened fire. The glow was very similar to the one exhibited by our heavy armored troops using non Newtonian fluids to supplement the protective qualities of their armor."

"The STG teams my government has sent has confirmed our fears that the aliens have left the system. The recovered data shows that they don't use element zero for FTL travel, so they are nor limited to relay network and they could be anywhere. How do we contain them? What's your tactical appraisal? How should we proceed?"

"I'm afraid we can't sir. The explored relay network accounts for just one percent of the galaxy. Unless we start opening relays and exploring them, we are very limited indeed."

"We were of the same opinion Admiral. Which is why we would like to appoint you as head of the task force "Frontier". Your duty is to lead the task force in exploration of inactive relays, in an attempt to find these aliens, wherever they may be. Meanwhile, we will continue with our mobilization and putting our economy on war footing. Dismissed!"

"That went better than expected" she thought to herself. The greatest defeat in 700 years and she gets promoted for it. These truly are strange times. She failed once, she will make sure not to fail again. Not a lot of Turians can claim they've been given a second chance. She swore that she will prove worthy of it.

 **Admiral Wel'Reegar vas Khonesh, Terminus systems**

Despite the light coming trough the observation ports on the bridge of Khonesh, none of it managed to pierce trough the dark faceplate to reveal the emotions of a man beneath the mask. His eyes followed hundreds of small cargo vessels ferry ore and salvage from the blue marble bellow onto Rayya and Shellen for further processing aboard the liveships. It's been 130 years since the Geth drove his people into exile, back in 2485, and for the first time things looked up with the discovery of this nine planet system. It was perfect, the wealth of materials and resources was beyond belief, and it even had an enormous asteroid belt right after the fourth planet in which substantial element zero deposits were hidden. The planet itself was a beauty, sadly unsuited for his people. Despite the megafauna that populated it, they gained a foothold on it easily enough and a makeshift cargo port was constructed. He knew they could never settle here, the council would never allow it, and even the people wouldn't be willing to do it. To do so, would mean giving up on their homeworld, and on hope to ever reclaim it. Still, the resources collected here will go a long way to aid them in strengthening the Migrant fleet. All he had to do was ensure they aren't discovered. If the council ever found out about them activating dormant relays... He shuddered at the thought.

"Admiral, we detect contacts in FTL transit to this system!"

If the weight in his stomach was anything to go by, this wont be good; "ALL HANDS, BATTLESTATIONS!"

 _My notes:_ Alright, _another chapter done, I hope you like it. Next up, we find out who the Quarians encounter and how that encounter develops. I would also like to thank all those who left a review, I really enjoyed reading them. I have responded to some of them, and I hope you found the answers satisfactory. Also, if anyone would like to join up and help me develop this story as a partner/partners, that would be amazing. Feel free to PM me if you're interested. Until next time, cheers._


	5. Update for the fans

The story is on hold, thank you all who favorited or left a review. I am having medical issues and are unable to write for now, and have logged on recently to find a lot of messages asking me to continue. I have the plot planned out, but as I said, am unable to write at this time. If anyone is interested in taking up the story, or working on it, continuing it etc... please feel free to contact me. There aren't a lot of SOASE/Mass Effect fanfics, and none of them are completed. Lets change that.


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